Astros trade first pick in Rule 5 draft to complete Padres deal

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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — In effect, the Astros made the first pick in the Rule 5 draft the day before the draft.

The Astros selected lefthanded pitcher Patrick Schuster with the first pick in the draft on Thursday, but sent him immediately to the Padres, completing a trade the teams made Wednesday as a practically straight-up swap.

The Rule 5 draft is in place to prevent teams from stockpiling players in the minor leagues who could have big-league opportunities elsewhere.

“We decided this year, given our opportunity to pick (first), we talked to other clubs to see if anybody had interest to moving up to that position,” Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said. “When San Diego expressed interest, we worked out a deal for Bass. We figured that getting a player with options that has major league experience was, in our situation, a little wiser than selecting somebody that hasn’t played in the major leagues that would have to stay up there all year. We feel good about it.”

Schuster, 23, threw four consecutive no-hitters in high school and signed for $450,000 when the Diamondbacks drafted him in 2009.

The trade could have worked out a little differently had the Astros been able to pick who they wanted in the Padres’ slot, No. 12, but the player they had targeted was no longer on the board.

“We were prepared to make a pick with their selection,” Luhnow said. “But the player we wanted, was gone so that’s why we passed.”

The Astros aren’t strangers to making and keeping around a Rule 5 pick, i.e. reliever Josh Fields last season. Players selected in the major-league portion of the draft have to remain on the 25-man roster an entire season or be offered back to the team they were taken from for $25,000, half the cost the team paid to pick the player.

Capable talent can be found in the Rule 5 draft. But keeping a young player who may not be polished or truly ready for the entire year can also be a strain. With Bass in the fold instead, that strain is gone, because he can freely move between the minors and majors.

“Historically, we have seen these picks go for cash considerations only,” pro scouting coordinator Kevin Goldstein said. “To actually get a player we care about, I think that’s really rare.”

The front office does think highly of Bass’ capability.

“He’s got major league experience, we like the arm, he’s mid-90s and he’s got options,” Luhnow said of Bass. “It gives us flexibility. It’s always challenging when you have to keep the player up all year. The beginning of last year, I think it hurt us some in that Fields — he was on the (disabled list) — even after that, we had a lot of situations where our starters were not going deep into the games, churning through the bullpen.

“We were sending guys back and forth to (Class AAA) Oklahoma City, and when you have a guy that has to stay on the roster, it limits your flexibility. … We know the pitcher that they selected. It’s a good fit for them. For us, we’ve got a couple lefties that we signed, six-year free agents we like.”

The Astros didn’t lose any players in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 draft, which saw just nine players taken. The crop this year was known to at least be shallow aside from a few names.

“I think we thought it would be a lower number than average,” Goldstein said. “We thought there were good players in the draft.”

The Astros did add three players in the minor-league portion of the draft, including a rare lefthanded knuckleballer from the Braves system who’s still new to the pitch, Blaine Sims. They also took outfielder Ravel Santana from the Yankees, a toolsy outfielder who has battled injuries but signed for $149,000 as an international free agent in 2008.

The Astros lost one player in minor league portion, righthander Enderson Franco. He went to the Rays. Signed out of Venezuela, Franco turns 21 this month and hasn’t pitched above Rookie ball.

It’s cheaper to pick players in the minor league portion of the draft, and there’s no roster stay requirement. The player never would have to be offered back to the team he was picked from, unlike the major league phase.

The Rule 5 draft doesn’t typically garner attention outside of the baseball world, but the Rangers selected Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in the minor league portion of the draft, paying $12,000 for his rights — useful only if Wilson decided to return to baseball, but notable for the publicity. Wilson played professionally in the Rockies’ system before going to the NFL.